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Tax Returns An Issue In Florida Governor’s Race

Former Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who is currently the leading Democrat trying to unseat incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Scott, speaks to the media after addressing the Miami-Dade Justice Association on May 28, 2014 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist released three years worth of tax returns the same day a new statewide ad criticized him for not releasing his wife’s tax returns.

The political committee who released the ad is working to re-elect Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

The ad asked what Crist is trying to hide. Scott released joint tax returns he filed with his wife Ann while Crist and his wife Carole file their taxes separately.

Florida requires candidates to list their income and assets, but they aren’t required to release tax returns.

The Scott ad refers to Crist as a millionaire — a level of wealth he barely and only recently obtained. Scott’s net worth is $133 million according to required forms he filed.

Scott hasn’t said what his wife’s net worth is.

Governor Rick Scott told CBS4’s Gaby Fleischman, “When you run for office people want to know things. There ought to be transparency. That’s why I released my wife’s and my tax return. That’s why Alex Sink did it. That’s why Jeb Bush did it, so why won’t Charlie Crist? What’s he hiding? I can’t believe the Florida public is going to let him get away with this.”

A spokeswoman for the Crist campaign fired back Wednesday by releasing a statment saying, “It’s a shameful new low in the history of Florida politics for a candidate to run TV ads attacking the wife of a candidate. Rick Scott may have all of the money in the world from ripping off taxpayers, but he has no integrity. He should immediately apologize. Spouses and children are off-limits.”

Governor Scott responded to the statement by saying, “There’s no low in this. Charlie Crist just doesn’t believe in transparency so he must be hiding something.”